The Prisoner
by holloskins
Summary: "I want to save you, I really do," Draco sobbed. "But if I save you, it'll be my life on the line." Hermione knelt beside him, lifted up his chin so her chocolate brown eyes were melting into his piercing grey ones. "We're in this together."
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Okay this is my first ever Dramione fanfic! Finally plucked up the courage to let you guys read one! Please read and review, I want to know what you think :3**

**Disclaimer: All character names, spell names and locations belong to the beautiful creation of J.K Rowling's mind. I only own the plot.**

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><p>The long halls of Hogwarts were bathed in the moonlight, the portraits in their frames sleeping soundly and undisturbed. All was still in the castle, all but one. Draco Malfoy hurriedly exited the Slytherin dungeons, barefoot and still in his silk green pyjamas and ran up the nearest flight of stairs. He rushed down the corridors, turning corners until he finally came to his destination. He was at the end of a long, dark, hall. No paintings or portraits hung on the walls, no carpet on the floors and no lights hanging from the ceiling. The hall was deserted. Draco pulled out his wand and muttered '<em>Lumos<em>', filling the hall with a bright beam of light bursting from the tip of his wand. He could now see a tall wooden door at the end of the hall. He started walking again.

No one had been to this part of the castle before, only Draco. Since he had been acquainted by The Dark Lord, Draco had frequently been back and forth to this very hall. He thought about the terrible things he had witnessed behind the wooden door. He winced, and pushed the thoughts to the back of his mind.

The Dark Lord had made it well-known that his more recent mission was to kill all of the muggle-borns in the Wizarding Word. Everyone knew he despised their very existence and thought they were inferior. Most of the muggle-borns all over Wizarding-London had gone into hiding with their families, afraid to be caught by the Death Eaters that openly wandered the streets, taking muggle-born prisoners and bringing them to The Dark Lord. There, they met their worst nightmares, being tortured just for pure, sick, twisted humour, before they were mercilessly killed. The Dark Lord had ordered Draco to participate in this, something which Draco hated deeply. However, he hated his recent task far more.

Draco had once again attended Hogwarts for his seventh year, his fellow classmates oblivious to the painful dark tattoo inked onto his skin on his left forearm. He had been appointed as a fellow Death Eater, and The Dark Lord saw him as an opportunity to get closer to his ultimate goal yet: the killing of the famous muggle-born, Hermione Granger.

Draco reached the door. He muttered an incantation to unlock it, turned the handle and walked through the frame. He was now in a small-ish room. It was completely bare, like a prison cell. No bed, no table, no windows, no nothing. In the far corner of the room, rusty chains were attached to the damp wall. And locked into those chains, sprawled over the cold, hard floor was Hermione. She seemed to be asleep. Draco took this opportunity to look over her appearance. Her normally soft and curly honey-coloured hair was now matted with dried blood from when she had been tortured. The skin on her face had been broken and cuts and bruises scattered her once pretty features. She had become so thin... so, so thin. Hermione had changed so much, just a ghost of the girl she used to be and it was because of Draco. He quickly broke his gaze.

"Here," he said gruffly, shoving a small china plate towards her. The collision between the plate and the floor created a loud screeching noise. Hermione flinched and slowly woke up, revealing a pair of chocolate brown eyes to Draco. Hesitantly, she moved forward on her hands and knees, causing the chains to clank across the floor and greedily snatched up the stale food on the plate. She didn't say anything as she ate, she just stared at him.

Draco started to become uncomfortable under her watch. He shifted, ready to walk out again, but she stopped him with a clear of her throat. He raised an eyebrow expectantly.

"I, um..." she muttered hoarsely. "I wanted to... um... thank you for the other day..."

Draco's cheeks coloured and he looked back towards the door. '_I could just leave_,' he thought. '_It would be a nicer way to show her that it was just a mistake_.' But Draco's Death Eater instincts took over and he turned slowly to face her. He wasn't here to be nice. Suddenly, he launched himself at Hermione and grabbed her shoulders in a tight grip. She yelped in pain, her eyes huge with fright and shock. He pushed his face right up to hers, his features contorted with hate.

"Now listen here," he growled. "What I did the other day, when I defended your pathetic existence, was a mistake."

Hermione's eyes widened even more and started to fill up with unshed tears. Draco ignored this and continued.

"It is my pleasure to see you in pain. Having to torture you gives me a rush. However," he spat, "it may not give me the same rush to see somebody _else_ torturing you."

And with that, he threw Hermione out of his grasp. She fell to the floor with a thud and let her tears flow freely. Draco stood up abruptly and walked out of the room without a backward glance.

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><p>Draco could feel his heart pumping in his chest as he leant against the closed door. He hadn't meant for Hermione to perceive his actions as ones of kindness, he <em>was <em>merely doing it because he couldn't stand the fact to watch other Death Eaters torture her. When Draco was forced to do it, he could make it weak; make it easier for her to bear. When the others did it, there was no telling how much pain they could inflict. Draco rubbed his eyes wearily. He knew he would have to come down on her soon; otherwise the Dark Lord would have something to say about it. It was going to be hard. Because ever since Draco started making daily visits to Hermione Granger, it was getting harder for him to get rid of her from his head.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Okay so this chapter is mainly focusing on the bit when Hermione got captured, so it's really just a flashback until I decide where this story is going. It kinda clears up a few things that I left as cliff-hangers in the last chapters. R&R and enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: All character names, spell names and locations belong to the beautiful creation of J.K Rowling's mind. I only own the plot.**

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><p><em>Hermione walked through the empty corridors late at night, her arms laden with heavy library books. She had been late night studying in the library and hadn't realised how late it had gotten. She was apprehensive about being on her own so late at night considering the rumours about Draco Malfoy reportedly allowing Death Eaters onto the school premises. Hermione was still trying to decide whether she thought it was true or not.<em>

_Hermione had been watching over Draco recently, tracking his movements and analysing what he was doing for any signs that proved that the rumours were true. She had noticed that he had become a lot more isolated and didn't really speak to any of his Slytherin classmates much anymore, and he hardly participated in lessons. Hermione didn't take this as a good sign. Despite the fact that Draco had been a complete arse to her for 6 years of her school life, Hermione did feel kind of sorry for him. She couldn't imagine how awful it must've been for him – to be forced into killing Dumbledore and then failing would obviously have its consequences. In Hermione's eyes, anything Draco was up to now, he was doing it to redeem himself to the Dark Lord. _

_She quickly turned a corner. Hermione was so lost in her thoughts she didn't notice another person coming towards her and her body collided with theirs. She landed on the floor with a thud and all her library books fell out of her hands._

_She landed on the floor with a thud and all her library books fell out of her hands._

"_You should really watch where you're going!" Hermione grumbled, rubbing her head, which was now throbbing with pain. _

"_I could say the same for you, Granger," drawled a familiar voice._

_Hermione looked up and blinked a few times before an image of Draco Malfoy standing tall over her came into view. She gave an irritated sigh. _

"_You should be in bed," Hermione said, starting to get up. _

"_So should you," he replied, raising an eyebrow._

_Hermione's cheeks coloured. "For your _information, _Malfoy, I'm a prefect therefore I'm actually allowed to be out of bed at this time. Not that I have anything to explain to you." She started to pick up her discarded books. Draco just watched her with a strange look on his face, almost a look of pain and frustration. Hermione noticed this. _

"_Why are you staring at me?" she asked, squirming uncomfortably under his gaze. He immediately snapped out of it. _

"_Please," he scoffed. "As if I would waste my time staring at a Mudblood."_

_Hermione rolled her eyes, unaffected by the use of the insult that had been used too many times._

"_Well then, as much as I'd _love _to stand here talking to you Granger, I have things to do." Draco started to walk off. _

"_No no no, Malfoy," Hermione said, blocking his path. She looked up at him. "You're going nowhere other than back to the dungeons and to bed."_

_Draco's lips pulled back into a snarl. He'd had enough of listening to and following orders, and he certainly wasn't going to put up with any of Granger's shit tonight. He was ready to reply with an insult but something caught his eye. A portrait on the wall to his left began to change. Black smoke started to fill the frame and then moved onto the next frame, startling the picture that was already in it. The smoke carried on moving through the each frame until all of the portrait frames on the wall were filled with black smoke. It continued onto the right wall. It was a signal – a signal that Draco knew meant bad things were about to happen. Fortunately for him, Hermione hadn't noticed it yet. He needed to get her out of this corridor, and he needed to do it now. _

_Draco had never meant to get caught up in the dark side. He certainly hadn't meant for Granger to get involved either. He sure hated her, but he didn't really want to see her get killed. His views on blood status had changed and he didn't see muggle-borns as inferior any more, despite what people thought. The Dark Lord's views had stayed the same, possibly even grown into a stronger hate. And unfortunately for Draco, he was forced to redeem himself to the Dark Lord, to save his family from being killed after he had failed to murder Dumbledore. _

_Reality brought him away from his thoughts. _

"_Granger, you need to get out of here," Draco growled, grabbing her arm._

_Hermione looked up at him with her brown eyes, startled at the sudden touch._

"_Don't slow things down Granger, just go!"_

"_And why should I listen to you Mal-" Suddenly one of the portraits on the wall exploded._

"_GET DOWN!" Draco screamed as bits of brick and plaster rained down on them. All of the portraits in the hall started to explode too, filling the corridor with a huge cloud of dust. Draco could hear Hermione screaming and he struggled to find his wand. _

"Partis_!" he yelled and immediately the dust cloud slowly cleared to reveal the hallway full of debris and broken portrait frames. Draco coughed and looked up, his eyes adjusting. He inwardly groaned at what he saw. Standing in the middle of all of the rubble, with a mad smile upon her face, was Bellatrix LeStrange. _

"_Ahh Draco," she purred, slowly walking towards him. Draco instantly looked around to see Hermione pressed up against the wall, as if doing so would get her as far away from Bellatrix as possible. Her eyes were wide with fear as she clocked the mad expression on Bellatrix's face._

"_I see you have already found our victim?" Bellatrix continued. Draco looked at Hermione and saw her staring back at him with hurt in her eyes. He pulled his gaze away from her and stood up abruptly, looking at Bellatrix. He had no time to feel sorry for her now, not when it was his own life at risk._

"_Yes Aunt Bella," he muttered. _

"_Excellent," she hissed gleefully. She slowly walked to where Hermione was cowering and pointed her wand at her. _

"Incarcerous_," she said, and Hermione was immediately bound tight with ropes. Tears filled her eyes and the last thing she heard was Bellatrix screaming "_Crucio_!" before she blacked out. _


	3. Chapter 3

**AU: So yeah. Another chapter. I work on this fanfic in my English class guys, so be thankful, I'm losing my education because of you!:P I think I might take a break from this after this chapter, mainly because I'm not really sure where it's heading at the moment? I'm hoping for a moment of sheer brilliance to come to me tehee! If you have any suggestions, don't be shy to message me!**

**Disclaimer: ****All character names, spell names and locations belong to the beautiful creation of J.K Rowling's mind. I only own the plot.**

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><p>Hermione woke up from a painful sleep and winced as her movements stimulated her cuts and bruises to hurt. She lightly touched her scalp and felt dried blood there. '<em>Bellatrix<em>,' she thought and gave a deep sigh. She didn't remember most of the things that happened to her in this prison cell thanks to that mad old witch. Hermione felt good as dead when Bellatrix was finished with her.

The only thing she could remember was the talk her and Malfoy had had after he'd defended her once when she was being tortured. But it seemed he did not wish to remember that, much to Hermione's disappointment.

It was her only memory that was getting her through this ordeal. To know Malfoy actually had a different side – a softer, kinder side – to his personality. It reassured Hermione that his Death Eater persona was just an act.

Hermione remembered the day well. It was a few days into her new-found imprisonment. Draco had visited her in order to give her some food etc and it was at this point Hermione let her feisty side out, after noticing the irony of the situation.

_-Flashback-_

"_So let me get this straight," she spat as Draco placed the bowl and cup on the floor. "You hate me and would love nothing better than to see me dead, but yet you still feed me which is the only thing that's keeping me alive. Ironic, don't you think?"_

_Draco glared at the bushy-haired witch as she spoke. "Despite common opinion, Granger," he said. "I don't actually want to see you dead."_

_Softer, he added, "That's not what I'm gaining from this."_

_Hermione stared at him in disbelief. She really hadn't been expecting _that _from him. She noticed him eyeing up the door and felt a wave of disappointment wash over her at the thought of him leaving. _

"_Don't go," she whispered. "Tell me then, what are you gaining from this?"_

_Draco sighed and sat down next to the witch in chains. "I'm gaining freedom, for myself and for my family."_

_-End Flashback-_

Hermione smiled to herself as she relived the memory. Draco had gone on to tell her about how he really hated his Aunt and all of her twisted views on Muggle-borns. He justified himself for defending her by saying he didn't want to be known as the reason for the death of 'Hermione Granger'. Somehow, though, Hermione didn't think this was the true reason.

She had been noticing quite a change in him recently. Each time he came to her in that little prison cell, he would stay for a bit and they would chat and laugh about random things, and it would be like they were _friends _and not enemies. It confused Hermione to no end, but she couldn't find it in herself to confront Draco about it. She was scared – scared that she would lose the only human company she had if she started asking questions.

However, Hermione had a curious mind. Where were Harry and Ron? Were they looking for her? How long are the Death Eater's planning to keep her here? Did they ever have plans of letting her go? Was Draco beginning to see her in a different light? Draco...

She was broken out of her reverie by a rumble from her stomach. She groaned. '_Hurry Draco..._" she thought, desperate for food – but more desperate for his company. Right on cue, Hermione jumped as the doorknob slowly twisted and the door pushed open to reveal a rather dishevelled Draco. Hermione's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"What time is it?" she asked as she greedily reached for the food he had brought her.

"3pm, why?"

Hermione considered this. "You usually come at night, is all." She took a bit out of a bread roll.

"Yeah, well maybe I fancied a bit of a change. Maybe I like the idea of being caught, just to be rid of all of this," he muttered, sitting down next to her.

Hermione raised an eyebrow. Noticing, Draco cleared his throat and said,

"I wanted to um... I came here to... err..."

"Give me food?" Hermione said sarcastically, swallowing her food.

Draco growled. "If you don't let me finish, I won't say it at all."

"No, no, go on, I'm sorry," she said, taking another bite and willing him to continue.

Draco took a deep breath. God, it was so hard to apologize to people – it's probably why he never did it – but he felt like he had to after reacting the way he did towards her the previous day. His hate towards Hermione was slowly melting away. He didn't want her to think of him as a bad person. Hermione was the only person Draco could think of who would eventually forgive him for all of the bad things he had done. Draco found comfort in that – however, it scared him that he was feeling this way. He was supposed to hate her! Hate her for what she resembled, who she was. But Draco just couldn't get Hermione fucking Granger out of his head. He inwardly groaned.

"I'm sorry for the way I acted yesterday," he breathed out in a rush. Hermione stared at him open-mouthed. An awkward silence stretched out between them, Draco's words left lingering in the air.

"Did I hear you correctly?" Hermione whispered whilst looking at the ground. Draco nodded stiffly.

Hermione looked up at him and half-smiled. "To be honest," she said. "I don't even remember much of what you said anyway." She giggled.

Draco scowled at her laughter. How dare she laugh at him after he had just apologized? Didn't she realise how much it took for him to do that?

"Well, fine, then don't expect an apology next time," he grumbled and stood up ready to leave.

"I never expected anything of you, Draco," Hermione said softly. Draco's eyes widened at the use of his first name. Instead of asking her about it, he turned and quickly left, deciding it would be best to just to leave it until tomorrow. He left Hermione alone once again where she sat and relived the memory they had just created.


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Sorry that this is really short :/ I'm working on it, I promise, it's just I'm having a temporary mind block, and can't keep the story going without making it drag. So it might be a few days until I update again whilst I think of something exciting to happen. But stick with me guys! R&R, I love you all**

**Disclaimer: All character names, spell names and locations belong to the beautiful creation of J.K Rowling's mind. I only own the plot.**

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><p>Hermione drew in a sharp breath, quickly going over what had just happened in her head. Malfoy had just <em>apologized <em>for behaving like an arse towards her. She was so shocked and even more confused. Things were definitely changing between the two of them...

Hermione wasn't sure if it was just because she was starved from company, or because she was completely deluded, but Malfoy had been the main focus of her thoughts as of late, and Hermione didn't like it. She felt like she couldn't get away from him, he was always there, and that scared her. Was she falling for him?

"_NO_," she scolded herself. "_It's just because you're stuck in here, it's making you go mad Hermione, you don't like _Malfoy_._"

She looked around to try and distract herself, but it didn't prove to be very useful. The room was completely bare so there was literally nothing she could do. It was driving her crazy, her mind working in over-drive to think of things to do. Hermione eyed the door and tried a few non-verbal spells to try and unlock it. It didn't occur to her frazzled mind that she would have to escape the chains before trying to escape the actual room.

She gave a frustrated groan. There was nothing to do and it was killing her! She needed company, she needed human interaction. She again peered around the room for something to do. Finally, settling her gaze on the brick wall in front of her, she began to count.

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><p>Draco's alarm clock read 2:59am. He stared at it for a minute before returning his gaze to the ceiling. These sleepless nights were becoming beyond a joke. The constant bags under his eyes were a reminder of how badly his task was affecting him, his lack of participation in class was concerning his professors and he really didn't need <em>them <em>on his back. And to make things even worse than they already were, his classmates were beginning to notice the disappearance of the class swot Hermione Granger.

"Where is she?" "It's not like her to miss lessons." "Maybe she's sick." "Oh please, she would still come to one of Flitwick's charms lessons even if she was throwing up everywhere."

The non-stop chat about her was driving Draco insane. If her disappearance was beginning to spark interest, Draco knew he meant that it was almost time – almost time for Hermione to be left in the hands of the Dark Lord.

Draco groaned and turned over in his bed, his arms coming up above his head to reveal the dark black mark on his left forearm. He scowled at it before closing his eyes and trying to fall asleep.

3:07am. Draco groaned loudly. After 8 minute of tossing and turning, he _still _wasn't asleep. He could feel a pull inside of him, something trying to pull him out of his bed – to go and see _her. _Draco sighed and pulled back his duvet. The cold air instantly contrasted with the warmth of his skin, causing goose-bumps to erupt over his bare arms. He wearily stood up, slipped his feet into a pair of shoes and quickly exited the Slytherin dungeons.

Draco was grateful for the warmth the castle's corridors enveloped him in and he soon began to warm up as he made his way through the castle to his destination. Some of the portraits looked at him curiously as he walked, but he ignored them. They'd seen enough during his trips around the castle, so it wouldn't matter if they saw him this time.

Finally Draco reached the door and breathed a sigh of relief as he realised he was going to see Granger again. He would have to deal with these unknown feelings at a later date because at this moment all he wanted to do was to run inside that tiny prison cell and just be with her. And that's just what he did.

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><p>"... 456, 457, 458 45- Malfoy?" Hermione's eyebrows furrowed in confusion as the tall blonde Slytherin interrupted her counting. What was he doing here so late? Was it time for food?<p>

"Have you come to give me food?" she asked, kind of already knowing the answer after noticing his empty hands.

"Obviously not," Draco replied, sarcasm lacing his voice as he sat down next to her on the floor. "What are you doing?"

"Well, I _was _counting the bricks in the walls, but you've me lose count," she replied, trying to regain her concentration by staring at the wall.

"You were trying to count the bricks?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well I- yes, I was," Hermione replied, her cheeks heating up. "But in my defence," she justified quickly, "I am bored out of my mind in this dump. Can't you bring me something, Malfoy? A book – or several, I don't mind – to keep me sane? Please!"

Draco inwardly laughed at her begging. It was kind of entertaining to watch her beg him and also... kind of a turn on?

"_NO_," he scolded himself. "_It's just because you have no choice but to spend time with her, it's making you think of her, you don't like Granger._"

Draco shook his head to rid himself of his thoughts and focused on the witch in front of him.

"I could," he pondered. "But I'm not sure if I'd be allowed to... 'Cause you know, Aunt Bella might think I'm being nice to you or something..." He trailed off, not sure where the sentence was going.

Hermione looked at him. "Aren't you being nice to me?" she asked quietly.

Draco averted his eyes from her face. He couldn't think straight in this room, it was too small, it felt like everything was closing in on him. All the secrecy, all the darkness, all the things that were going to happen. Draco felt like he couldn't handle it all. He angrily pounded his fist against the cold floor, ignoring the instant pain it created.

"Draco?" Hermione whispered worriedly.

His first name again. Fuck, it bothered him when she used his first name. He ran a hand through his tangled hair, thinking of what to say.

"Why do you keep on using my first name, like we're friends?" he asked.

Hermione blinked, caught by surprise.

"I-I don't know," she mutters. "I guess I do kind of consider you less than an enemy because you're the only person I can talk to now."

Draco sighed. This complicated things.


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Sorry it's been so long! But here is another chapter, I'll be updating soon guys!**

**Disclaimer: All character names, spell names and locations belong to the beautiful creation of J.K Rowling's mind. I only own the plot.**

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><p>Hermione bit down on her bottom lip, a bad habit of hers. Had she said something wrong? Malfoy sighing wasn't a good sign. In all honesty, Hermione was quite shocked at herself for saying it. <em>Friends<em>? What was she thinking? She went to justify herself but Draco cut across her.

"That is not true Granger," he said seriously. "Just because we talk and stuff now doesn't make up friends. I haven't changed." He lowered his gaze to the floor. "I'm still the boy who bullied you for your bushy hair, your buck-teeth, your..." He trailed off.

But Hermione knew what he was going to say. She tentatively placed her grubby hand over his, taking care not to hit him with the chains.

"I think you've changed," she said softly.

Draco tensed as he felt her dainty hand upon his. Skin on skin contact...

"Your hand looks disgusting," he said bluntly, removing her hand from his and removing the friendly atmosphere that was once between them.

"Well, forgive me, Malfoy," Hermione retorted, "if I haven't exactly had access to a shower."

Draco sniffed and took in her appearance. Her hair lay matted and tangled around her face, mixed with dried blood and dirt. Her skin was covered in a layer of grime along with cuts and bruises, although they were beginning to fade. The smell coming from her was enough to make Draco gag.

"Well..." Draco pondered. "Aunt Bella isn't coming to... visit you for another couple of days. You could use my shower to clean up... if you wanted... maybe." He looked at her expectantly.

Hermione's eyes widened. Had she heard him correctly?

"Um...-"

"Purely because I can't stand the sight of you right now," Draco said quickly. "And I trust you wouldn't try anything stupid because you know I would have no hesitation in killing you."

Hermione nodded in agreement. Trying something would be stupid when this was the first time Malfoy was actually doing something which would benefit someone other than himself.

"Okay," she said quietly, glancing up and looking at Draco for the first time. She had never realised how... handsome he was. His platinum blonde hair that fell perfectly over his face, but not too much to hide his well defined features. His chiselled chin, perfect cheekbones, his eyes... his beautiful grey eyes... Hermione shook her head to get rid of the thoughts. She needed to focus. She stuck her arms out in front of her to allow Draco to unlock the chains.

"We'll leave now."

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><p>Draco nodded and drew out his wand. He muttered an incantation and the metal clasp on the chains immediately opened, revealing sore red marks on Hermione's wrists. Wincing, she gently closed her fingers around her wrists in order to ease the pain. She looked at Draco expectantly.<p>

"Well come on then," he grumbled, gently pulling her up onto her feet. He didn't know why he was gentle, but something inside of him didn't want to her further. Weird...

Hermione staggered slightly as she got used to the weight of her body on her legs. After sitting in the small prison cell for weeks, her legs had forgotten how to stand up and walk. She misjudged her ability to walk and fell forward. Her hands flailed to search for something to break her fall, and to her alarm they found Draco's shoulders.

Out of instinct, Draco's hands shot up to grab Hermione's elbows and he staggered back as he held up her weight. Her head was resting on his shoulder and he could feel her rapid breathing on his neck. He was suddenly aware of their close proximity and roughly pushed her off of him. Hermione's eyes widened as she shied away from him. Draco, deciding not to dwell on the situation, strode over to the door and allowed Hermione to walk through it. After she had exited, he prodded his wand in the middle of her back, as a reminder to not put a foot out of line. Draco shut the door behind them and they walked through the darkness of the castles corridors until they reached the Slytherin dungeons.

Hermione came to an abrupt stop in front of the dungeons. Even outside, she could feel the cold and darkness seeping through the door. She gulped.

"Well go on then," Draco said, pushing his wand more into her back as a prompt. He muttered the password and the doors to part revealing a dark corridor. As soon as Hermione stepped through, she was enveloped in darkness.

"I can't see where I'm going," she said, her voice slightly rising with panic. "I should never have trusted you, I bet this is a trap. I would've been better off in the prison cell...-"

Draco rolled his eyes as he listened to her ramble. _Trust_ – what a load of shit. They reached the common room.

Hermione stopped mid-ramble and looked around curiously. Naturally, most of the room was green. There were desks pushed up against the far wall where the students could study and at the other far wall was a magnificent fireplace with gold and gilt detailing. Green armchairs were placed in a square around the fire place. In the left corner of the room was a winding staircase and in the opposite corner was another staircase. A door stood in the middle of the wall.

"That leads to the girl's dormitory," Draco said, indicating to the right staircase. "And that leads to the boys," pointing to the left. "In case you're interested," he shrugged. Hermione nodded.

"And the door?" she queried.

"The bathrooms." He pushed her forward towards the now open door. "I'll be right out here, so don't try anything."

And Hermione was then left in the bathrooms all by herself.


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: Asdfghjkl I'm so sorry that I haven't uploaded in ages, I've included some Draco/Hermione action in this chapter to make it up to you. Don't expect anything to amazing, though, I am still a first-time writer so I apologise if it isn't very good. Anyway, R&R, love you guys always ;3**

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><p>Hermione took in her surroundings – the airy bathroom was a huge contrast to the dark common room. Along the left wall were a line of showers each enclosed in a misty glass case. In between each shower was a huge porcelain bathtub with a curtain on a rail above it. On the opposite wall was another door, which Hermione assumed led to the toilets. Full length mirrors were positioned in each corner of the bathroom with a sink next to them. Hermione took a step towards the nearest mirror and pulled a disgusted face at her reflection. She helplessly tried rubbing away some of the dirt with her hands but it just made it worse. Sighing, she turned away and began to get ready.<p>

For the past few weeks, Hermione had been left in the prison cell in her school uniform and she had to admit she stank. Her clothes had stuck to her cuts and they were covered in dirt from the ground. Tentatively, she peeled off her robes and allowed them to pool around her feet. She kicked off her school shoes and pulled off her socks before shimmying out of her school skirt. One by one, she undid the buttons of her blouse and loosened her tie, then chucked them on the floor along with her other clothes. She was now standing in her bra and knickers. Turning back towards the mirror, she stood with her hands on her hips, twisting around so she could inspect her injuries on her body. Muttering a few simple healing spells without the aid of her wand, the last of her cuts cleared up and she hurriedly slipped out of her bra and knickers.

Walking over to a shower stall, Hermione slipped inside and turned on the water. She clapped a hand over her mouth to muffle the shriek that escaped her lips as a jet of icy cold water hit her skin. Her muscles relaxed as the water heated up and she closed her eyes and tilted her head back to allow her hair to be soaked. Every drop that touched her skin washed away every horrible situation Hermione had been in for the last few weeks. She allowed herself to be lost in her thoughts and the water rained down upon her, before opening her eyes and looking around the shower stall. A hole had been pushed into the tiled wall behind her and was filled with shampoos, conditioners and shower gels. Bending down slightly, Hermione selected all that she needed before popping the cap on the shampoo and squeezing a dollop in the palm of her hand. She allowed the sweet scent to fill her nostrils before massaging it into her sodden curls. After she had rinsed and repeated with the conditioner, she started to wash her body. All the grime and dirt washed away as it mixed with the shower gel and Hermione watched as the dirty water swirled down the drain. She reached out and cut off the water, leaving her standing dripping in the stall. When she started to shiver, Hermione knew it was time to leave. She pulled a fluffy towel – green, of course – off of a hook outside of the shower and stepped out of the stall with it wrapped tightly around her body. Noticing the pile of dirty clothes still discarded on the bathroom floor, Hermione sighed, and whilst clutching the towel tighter around her, she opened the bathroom door.

Hermione blinked at her eyes adjusted to the darkness of the common room. She quickly scanned the room for Draco whilst feeling extremely self-conscious of her lack of clothing. Finally spotting him sprawled across an armchair, she quietly walked to towards him, afraid to wake him if he was asleep.

"Malfoy?" she whispered as she approached him and she gently tapped him on the shoulder.

He jumped at her touch, knocking her backwards. Hermione gasped at his reaction and kept a steady grip on the towel wrapped around her, careful not to expose any of her body to the Slytherin.

"Don't _do _that," he grumbled, groggily standing up from the armchair. He turned to face her, and raised an eyebrow at her attire. "Loving the new look Granger," he smirked.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "I don't have any clothes."

"Sure you do, what about the ones you were wearing earlier?"

"I can't wear _those_ Malfoy!"

"Why not?"

"Because."

"Because _what _Granger?"

"Because they're dirty and I'm clean!" Hermione retorted, feeling slightly embarrassed about her outburst. Draco, however, found it incredibly amusing and was seeing how far he could push the Gryffindor Princess.

"What a shame," he drawled and sat back in the armchair, intent on going back to sleep.

"Malfoooy," Hermione grumbled as she moved around the chair. She was now standing in between Draco and the fire place and the heat from the yellow flames was slowly drying her sodden curls. Draco looked up at her, slightly in awe as her features were basked in the golden light given off by the fire. It was the first time, Draco noted, that he was thinking of Hermione as anything other than a Mudblood. He'd been doing that a lot recently and he realised he didn't _care _anymore. Something inside him snapped and he stood up, towering over her small frame, ready to defy all of the vows he took when he was appointed as a Death Eater. Gently, he placed his hands on her bare shoulders and looked into her big brown eyes for any signs of resentment on her behalf. If he was going to do this, he wanted her to be okay with it. '_Shit_,' he thought with a roll of his eyes, "_I'm going soft_."

Hermione's thoughts, on the other hand, were in over-drive. She was startled when Draco had suddenly gotten up and placed his hands on her shoulders – a complete unexpected and affection gesture, something Hermione wasn't aware Draco was capable of. She was scared. She didn't want to go along with whatever this was in case it was a trap to hurt her, but her curious mind let her down. Looking into those piercing grey eyes had her rooted to the spot and she watched quietly as his head moved forward.

After what seemed like an age of studying Hermione's face, Draco made the biggest decision of his life. With achingly slow movements, he ducked his head down and his lips met Hermione's. Being carefully gentle, he let his tongue slowly trace the opening to her mouth. She willingly obliged and opened her mouth, and Draco slipped his tongue inside, letting his tongue dance around hers, tasting her and exploring the forbidden territory.

Hermione felt faint at what was happening. She was standing in the middle of the Slytherin common room, in the early hours of the morning, close to naked and kissing the Malfoy heir, otherwise known as her sworn enemy. But all of that seemed irrelevant as she moved her lips and tongue with his, enjoying the feeling of kissing him. However, reality soon brought her back, and hesitantly, she pulled away so that his forehead was resting against hers. Her breathing was ragged and she felt slightly light-headed, but once she looked at the handsome face staring down at her, she didn't care.

"You don't know how long I've wanted to do that, Granger," Draco admitted quietly, still in shock that she'd gone along with it.

Hermione smiled at his confession. "You don't know how long I've been waiting for you to do that, Malfoy."

Draco smirked, and walked backwards towards the armchair, pulling Hermione with him. As he sat down, he positioned her on his lap and quickly cast a spell with his wand so that Hermione was dressed in some red silk pyjamas.

"Nice touch," she murmured as she snuggled into him. Draco watched as she closed her eyes and felt as ease as she fell asleep.


End file.
